If the Five Families made the Sicilian Mafia pay them a tax to be able to distribute in the United States, how is any Russian mob muscling in in any major way on the drug trade.
I don't think there was a tax on sicilian mobsters. They distributed it through the families, in fact a number of those sicilians actually joined those families. It was a mutual partnership if anything. Also your talking about the mafia of 30-50 years ago.
Everyone who was not under the protection of the American Mafia was going to jail, whether they knew it or not. The American Mafia was connected to the Narcs directly and indirectly.
Thats not true cause a lot of the american mafioso went to jail as well. French Connection, pizza connection, pleasant avenue all got busted at one point or another along with many american mobsters who did long sentences.
How can another crime group muscle in in any major way when everybody on the harbor is Mafia connected? You need the harbor to ship in the most massive amounts of Smack. The other crime groups can sneak in a little here and there, but they won't be able to use ships, maybe not even the airports. Airports have always been under domination of the local Cosa Nostra hood element.
Its a very gross exaggeration to say everyone on the harbour is mafia connected. Also a lot of the drugs coming into the US come up through the border through tractor trailers and trucks. Many different groups use shipping containers and airports to smuggle drugs,people and stolen cars through as well without any mafia involvement.
Then what policies did the American Mafia institute when they banned the sale of drugs by lower members of their organization? They told them they could never sell drugs, but they could rob unconnected drug dealers. So if you have Russian guys moving junk, according to the way things used to be, they had to pay tribute or they'd be either killed or indicted.
Robbing drug dealers is nothing new and also doesn't really mean your powerful. Drug dealers get robbed all the time.
There are many and have been many drug organisations and street gangs dating back to the early 70s that operate openly in new york without paying tribute or being killed.
